IT failure causes flight chaos for BA
In a statement made during the disruption, which took place on 28, 29 and 30 May, the airline said that it was meeting its obligations in providing hotel accommodation and refreshments for customers whose journeys had been affected. A spokesman clarified: “We are refunding or rebooking customers who suffered cancellations onto new services as quickly as possible and have also introduced more flexible rebooking policies. Customers on flights that have been cancelled can claim a full refund or rebook to a future date for travel up until the end of November 2017.”
In a statement made during the disruption, which took place on 28, 29 and 30 May, the airline said that it was meeting its obligations in providing hotel accommodation and refreshments for customers whose journeys had been affected. A spokesman clarified: “We are refunding or rebooking customers who suffered cancellations onto new services as quickly as possible and have also introduced more flexible rebooking policies. Customers on flights that have been cancelled can claim a full refund or rebook to a future date for travel up until the end of November 2017.”
Under European Union (EU) law, customers displaced by flight cancellations can claim up to £200 a day for a room (based on two people sharing), £50 for transport between the hotel and airport, and £25 a day per adult for meals and refreshments. Cancellation of flights in the EU result in different compensation amounts depending on how long the flight was meant to be – for passengers flying long haul, it can be €600 per person.
For travel insurers, hopefully the impact of claims will not be too severe, as BA will take the biggest hit, but the cancellations caused serious problems for passengers whose repatriation flights were cancelled, as assistance companies had to quickly confirm more overnight stays in hospitals and hotels for their clients.